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30 August 2014

It has been almost two full weeks since my gap year officially started, and so far I’m enjoying myself. I have applied for an internship at a media agency [yay for CV writing #nothankstohighschool] and I am yet to hear from them. But I’m not stressing. At first I was, because I was like “huhuhu when will I hear from them?!/1 Because I was ready to get this gap year going. Sometime during last week I was feeling discouraged because I wasn’t shifting gears from summer break to gap year fast enough. Real quick, I want to revisit the goals that I made for myself.

Do at least two internships – these haven’t kicked off yet..so..nah

Get healthy [workout & eat right] –
yeaaaaaaa.. lets get real for 1.394829 seconds. I really need to work
harder on this one! Working out is currently not a word in my dictionary.

Get involved with music [violin, piano, flute] – Mother
dearest and I are already on the hunt for a new violin/flute. Once I have
one of those, I can brush up with the help of the bae Youtube

Be consistent in everything [walk with Jesus, taking
care of mum] – this has been easy because God has
been giving me the strength and the desire daily to wake up early and spend time in His Word. My heart is SO
full yo. Taking care of mother dearest basically means making her a yummy
breakfast and dinner and making her countless mugs of Rooibos tea . I love spending time with my mom! Maybe a little too
much. #shesthebest

Be adventurous! - this is the vaguest goal ever.

But the best part of
this ENTIRE week has been volunteering at the New Life Home. Man, I’m blessed
daily by the little bundles of joy that come as children there. The ladies and
gentlemen that work there are so caring and work so hard every single second of
a LONG day. It’s really hard taking care of children let me tell you straight
up. I’ve learnt SO much just this week, and especially appreciate the hard work
of every single mother yo. Raising children [with your husband or by yourself]
is hard work! And so tiring.

Man. It’s been a humbling opportunity. The
children are GROWING on me. Getting attached to every single of them has become
my day job. I pray for every single one of them to find a good home with
parents that really love them and can take care of them. Little baby John has
my heart, it’s ridiculous. He’s the quietest baby and he’s SO
observant. All he wants to do is eat, sleep and look around. Ugh he’s the best. And we have the same haircut!

All in all, these past
two weeks have been great! I’m so excited for what God has in store for me this
year

The Child of God who maintains the habit of reading and reflective study will find new insights in what appears to be the peeling back of layer upon layer of scriptural complexity. In reality, it is us who are being peeled back and laid bare by the ever present truths of His Word.

26 August 2014

Let’s face it. Being a natural hair newbie isn’t
easy. The first two years of my natural hair journey were spent either in
braids, or looking like a legit mess. I honestly didn’t know what my hair was
even about, how to take care of it or how to listen to it. But after 4(ish)
years, and literally a year of FINALLY understanding what my hair wants and
love, I’m happy to say that looking like a straight up mess is no longer what my
life is about. Can I get a what what?

This post is a guide for all you natural hair
newbies that are equally as confused as I was when I first started this
journey. And even though there is so much content on the Internet about taking
care of natural hair, most of them feature products that can only be found in
the Western hemisphere. So all of us living in Africa just roll our eyes and
then begin to cry because now what do we use??!/11?

All of
these essentials can either be found at the supermarket [Nakumatt], or at any beauty supply store in town.

I’ve read some articles on the internet that say
“oh no, don’t use shampoo it’s too drying whatnot blahblahblah”, but living in
Kenya, hair gets dirty because of all the dust. So shampoo is a must. You want
to have your favorite conditioner [mine is Himalaya Herbals Protein
Conditioner] just to restore some softness, shine and bounce. Leave- In
conditioner can be used in a spritz bottle mixed with water, glycerin [check
out why here] and any essential oil. Leave- In conditioner mixed with glycerin
keeps your hair oh-so soft, while the water keeps your hair moisturized and the
essential oil locks all that goodness in! It’s basically magic.

This is how it all goes down. You’ve just
washed your hair with your favorite shampoo and conditioned with that awesome
conditioner that promises softness and shine [yazzzz!]. You can then dry your
hair with a t-shirt, not a towel, because regular towels are abrasive on wet, curly hair and can create frizz and aint nobody gaht time for frizz! [check out this awesome post] Once you’ve dried your hair, you can then spritz all that goodness that is contained in your spritz bottle onto your
beautiful coils and then begin to detangle. This is where your afro-comb and/or
wide-tooth comb comes to the rescue.

Remember to detangle in sections, either braiding/ twisting each section as you go.
When detangling, ALWAYS start from the tip of your hair to the root so that
you’re not wrestling with your hair. Curly hair is delicate so you want to
treat it as such.

Once every single strand on your head is a happy
camper, and your bicep muscles are hurting slightly from having to raise your arms to detangle , you can either roll out
with an afro [perhaps accessorized] and eventually embrace the power of shrinkage, or if it’s the evening, prep it for the
next day’s style.

I usually flat twist my hair to the side [I have the
sides and the back shaved] and let it dry over night. Using a blow-dryer on low
setting can accelerate the drying time! For curl definition, I use Jabu Stone
Natural Hair Care Beeswax. It’s actually for locks but it works. Most of the
time, the oils in my spritz bottle and how tight I braid the flat twist are
enough for some bangin’ curl definition. The key for some serious curl definition is to let your hair completely dry!

this is how I roll out!

If you're prepping for the next day's hairstyle, be sure to sleep with a silk scarf [wrapped tight enough so that it doesn't fall off during the night] or a silk bonnet! It reduces friction between your hair strand and your pillow.

18 August 2014

So today actually marks the first official day of my gap year! I've been so excited to start this year and to see where God leads me.

After graduating, everyone (literally everyone) asks you what your plans are. I literally answered this question a billion times this summer from every single family member. Taking a gap year really wasn't that big of a decision for me.

3 August 2014

Super quick post because this summer has been crazy and internet struggles are super real on this side of the continent! Can't wait to be posting more about my fast-approaching gap year! I hope you, dear reader, are doing well.